Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.
Start from scratch.
Chapter 21 – The road ahead.
No One's POV.
His face suddenly turning ashen, Beck gasped. "You were wearing a wire."
Ignoring him momentarily, Tori ran into the bedroom and returned a second later with a comforter. She then placed over the naked and bruised form of Jade, who was still on the floor.
At this point a tall detective with black hair and olive skin came in. "Tori are you ok?"
"Yes, other than a small cut, I'm fine Detective Gallo, but Jade needs help."
Detective Gallo poked his head out the door, "Hey guys, we have a woman in here that needs help, pronto."
No sooner as he said that, two paramedics with a gurney rolled into the room and immediately headed towards Jade.
Knowing that Jade was in the safe hands of the paramedics, Tori got up and walked to Beck who was still being held by the three tactical officers. Gone, was Becks arrogant swagger. At the moment he looked like a frightened child, who was about to pee his pants.
"You tricked me! It was all just an act." Beck's voice squeaked in disbelief.
"My greatest performance. Such a pity no one will ever see it." Remarked Tori, with a small measure of disappointment.
"No…it can't be."
"You see Beck, I walked away 3 years ago and ever since I've barely been able to live with myself. After that, I made a vow that I would never turn my back on Jade again, no matter the circumstance. I got Jade's message a few minutes after she sent it. Knowing she needed help, I called my dad. He then called a friend from the police academy, who transferred to New York a few years ago; Detective Gallo here. Detective Gallo, his captain and I realized we had a serious situation on our hands. Once we spoke with Dr. Cortez, we fully understood what was going on. Using his advice we very quickly formulated a plan. Dr. Cortez said that if you had thought you had won, it would be almost child's play to get you to boast about or confess what you did. He said you'd practically be dying to do so. I even talked to Sikowitz, who gave me some last minute pointers on how to look utterly defeated. They wired me up and I went in with my fake gun. I just needed to play my part, appear to lose my nerve and get you to talk. The whole plan was hastily planned and executed, but thank God it worked."
Tori turned to Detective Gallo. "You got him on tape, Right?"
Detective Gallo looked to Beck with distain. "Yeah, clear as a bell, admitting to one rape in California. 3 specific rapes in New York and a reference to possibly several dozen others. It appears he also hit you Tori, so we can add assault to that pile o charges."
Beck's mouth opened and closed a few times as the panic stricken actor seemed to grow more desperate. Finally he looked to Jade as she was being placed on the stretcher and pleaded.
"Jade tell them….it's all a mistake….please."
The severely beaten Goth looked at him and using all of her might screamed. "RAPIST!"
Suddenly shifting from despair to anger, Beck glared at Tori. "You turned her against me, you Bitch!"
Tori then punched Beck right in the face, then kicked him in the nuts, causing him fall to the floor with a pitiful moan.
Standing over him, Tori seemed to grow utterly enraged and for a moment, she appeared as if she was going to kick him in the head. Instead she spat on him and hissed . "I got you…..it took me three years, but I finally got you. Maybe, just maybe, I can finally look at myself in the mirror again. But know this….I GOT YOU, YOU WORTHLESS SON OF A BITCH!"
Beck let out a groan and promptly whined. "She hit me, I want to press charges."
Detective Gallo, looked to the three tactical officers. "Gentlemen, did you see any assault take place. I didn't."
All three shrugged, shook their heads and answered in unison. "No sir."
Detective Gallo then looked to the two paramedics. "Did you two see anything?"
The two paramedics briefly looked at each other, with one finally responding. "See what? We were too busy attending to our patient."
Detective Gallo pulled Beck off the floor and handed him to the Tactical officers. "Sorry, can't help you. Beck Oliver I'm placing you under arrest on the charges of rape, assault and whatever else the district attorney comes up with."
Gallo looked to the tactical officers and motioned to the door. "Read him his rights and take this piece of shit to booking."
Turning his attention to Tori, Gallo smiled. "You did great, your father would be proud."
"Thank you ever so much. Can I go with Jade?"
Gallo nodded. "Yeah, me and the evidence guys will finish here. In any case, your father would flay me alive if I didn't make sure you were properly checked out by a doctor. Get that cut on the side of your head looked at. You ride with Jade and my partner, Detective Vanfleet will meet you there. She'll make sure that Jade's rape kit is done and your statement is taken. Don't worry about your dad, I'll call him and let him know you did fine."
"Detective Gallo, We're ready to transport Miss West." Said one of the paramedics.
"Got it, how is she?"
"Not counting emotional trauma, she's pretty banged up and seems to be in a lot of pain, we need to move."
"Ok, Miss Vega will be going with you. Get going." Ordered the detective.
As the paramedics wheeled Jade out of the apartment, a now worried Tori walked right alongside her. Jade was not awake but stirring and appeared to be in pain.
Within minutes, Tori and Jade both were in the ambulance headed towards the hospital. In fact, they were headed to the hospital that Jade worked at. As soon as they got going, the paramedic in the back, bandaged up Tori's head.
Tori then took Jade's hand and held it all the way to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, Tori and Jade were taken to separate area's in the emergency room. Tori didn't want to separate from Jade, but knew it was necessary.
Tori was checked over and treated by the doctors for the cut on her head. Tori also had her wire removed, while answering questions from a tall red-haired female detective named Grace Vanfleet.
"I just checked and they've done the rape kit for Jade, so everything on this end is going alright."
Tori took a deep breath and exhaled. "Considering how quickly we threw this thing together, I'm amazed we pulled it off."
Grace put her hand on Tori's shoulder. "I've seen informants and other people we've had wired, fall totally apart and some of these people were hardened career criminals. I was down in the police van listening. You did awesome Job. He was a real dirt bag."
The doctor discharged her, saying her only injuries were a bruise on her back and a bruise and cut on her temple. He stictched up Tori's temple, gave her something for the pain and said she was free to go.
"What about my friend?"
"She's still being treated. You can wait in the waiting room just down the hall and someone will be with you as soon as they know the full extent of her injuries."
Detective Vanfleet accompanied Tori to the waiting room where she then called her dad. He was much relieved that she was alright and quite proud that she pulled it off.
Once that was done, all Tori could do was wait.
"I'm really worried about Jade. I've been here for almost an hour." Said Tori with a great deal of worry.
Just then, A doctor with brownish hair and tired look came up. "Miss Vega, Detective Vanfleet?
Both stood up and nodded.
"What about my friend Jade?"
"I'm Dr. Snyder. I've been attending to Miss West. She has a broken rib, a broken nose, her left eye socket is slightly cracked and she has so many bruises on her body, it looks like a star chart. But the good news is here is nothing serious to worry about, at least physically. She was very lucky; Mr. Oliver had punched her 3 or four times in the midsection right near her spleen, a few more hard blows and it could have ruptured. As far as the nose and the eye socket, we have our plastic surgeon, Dr. Jacobs, working on it fixing it now. She's very good. We'll be keeping her here for 2 to 3 days, just to be sure."
"Can I see her?" Tori asked anxiously.
"Not at the moment, once Dr. Jacobs is finished. Dr. Cortez is going to evaluate her mental state, it's not my field, but she's in a bad way. I'll have him talk to you, as soon as he's done."
"Thank you Dr. Snyder."
Grace smiled and turned to Tori, as the Doctor walked away. "She's going to be fine. I can stay with you of course."
Tori shook her head. "No Detective you've done so much already. Plus I'd like to be alone for a while. I just need some time to process all of this."
Detective Vanfleet pulled out a card and handed it to Tori. "I know my partner gave you his, but here's mine. Call me any time if you need anything. We'll check up on Jade in the morning. Plus you'll need to come in and fill out some paperwork. Do you need a ride home?"
"No, I'll just take the subway or a cab. Thank you Detective. Have a good night."
"You did great Tori, don't forget that. You came through when she needed you. Have a good night."
As Tori watched Detective walk off, she found herself still feeling a great deal of guilt. Yes she had come through today, but 3 years ago she had walked off. Alone and coming down off the high, of rescuing Jade, Tori also felt a bit depressed.
"She wouldn't be here if I hadn't walked away 3 years ago." Tori lamented.
For another hour and a half, Tori sat there thinking of all the things she could have done differently.
She was in deep thought she was approached by Dr. Cortez.
"Tori?"
Startled, Tori looked up. "Oh…I'm sorry I didn't hear you coming. Thank you for your insight into Beck's mind earlier. It was invaluable."
Dr. Cortez smiled. "I'm glad I was able to help."
"All I had to do is let him think he'd won and he just spilled it. How is Jade?"
Gesturing down the corridor, Dr. Cortez said. "I was just coming to update you. I've finished my preliminary evaluation and she's been moved to her room. Come with me."
"So what's the story?" Tori asked as they walked.
"She was already in shock before the events of this afternoon. She had found out that everything about Beck and their relationship was a lie. The fact that she knows she was played for an utter and complete fool from day one, was a staggering blow to her self-image. Being badly raped and beaten, has severely traumatized her."
Tori sighed deeply. "It's my fault."
"No, stop that right now. She told me the story. Yes, you made a mistake. But mistakes are human. You were up against near insurmountable odds, so stop blaming yourself. What you need to realize is that she needs support, right now. She's got a long road ahead of her."
"Has she said much?"
"Since she's arrived, absolutely nothing. She wasn't totally unresponsive, I did asked her some questions and for a time she did nod to indicate yes or no. The rest of the time she simply stares off into space or looks too afraid to make so much as a sound."
He then pointed to a room, "Here she is. I've just given her a sedative to help her sleep, so she's going to be sleepy. You can see her for a minute."
Suddenly very anxious, Tori walked into the room to find Jade in bed, she had a bandage over her left eye, her nose was bandaged up and the rest of her face was a sea of bruises. Just seeing her like this, was very painful.
"Jade?"
The Goth slowly opened her one eye and after a moment said in a near whisper. "You came for me!"
Tori found herself suddenly and totally overwhelmed by both sorrow and guilt. Tears quickly burst from her eyes.
"I'm sorry Jade, it's all my fault."
Jade shook her head indicating no, but otherwise said nothing.
Tori took a moment to compose herself, before speaking again.
"I'm also sorry I had to fool you with my performance today. I needed both of you to totally believe, I had lost my nerve and was leaving. It was the only way to get him to confess what he did. He's going to go to jail for a very long time."
"Away!" Said Jade with hint of relief in her voice.
After a quiet moment, Jade once again whispered. "Can I stay with you?"
Tori quickly wiped a tear. "God yes, I'll take care of you. Yes."
However at Tori said that she reached out to take Jade's hand only to have the Goth quickly pull it away, a look of terror in her eyes.
"Can't….can't….can't be touched."
Dr. Cortez, who had been watching from the doorway, stepped forward. "I was afraid of that, as a result of her trauma, she's developed a fear of being touched. I saw initial signs of it earlier. She's not doing it to put you off Tori. She just terrified of being touched right now, even by you. Please don't take it personally."
By now Jade's expression had turned from fear to sorrow as she seemed to suddenly grow very tired.
"Vega..." Was all Jade said before drifting into sleep.
Dr. Cortez put a reassuring hand on Tori's shoulder. "It's ok, we'll work through this. Come with me out in the hallway, I need to speak with you for another moment."
After following Dr. Cortez out Tori looked to him, wiping the last of her tears. "Will she be ok?"
He nodded. "Jade is strong, but needs help rebuilding herself. I think her staying with you is a good thing as you can really be there for her but, there is something I will have to caution you about."
"What?"
"You two had started to date and explore your feelings for each other before your, break up, and her subsequent return to Beck. I have to strongly advise you to not try to resume your romantic relationship right away."
Tori couldn't help but look very disappointed. "Why?"
"Well for starters you want your relationship to have a solid foundation and Jade is very unstable at the moment. Moving forward with a romance now could complicate her recovery and lessen the chances of any relationship between you lasting. She needs time to pull herself back together. For the moment, what she needs is a friend, a solid friend she can depend on. I know you can do it."
Tori while wanting to resume their dating, now began to understand why it had to be postponed. Besides, it's rather difficult to romance a person who can't bear to be touched. "I think I get it."
"There's another reason. I've talked to her parents and they are paying for Jade to become one of my patients and I will help her. But she has lots of emotions and issues to work though and you living with her will have to deal with some of that. One of those will be anger. At times she will be very easy to anger and I can guarantee that at least one point, she will take that anger out on you. Now I'm not telling you this to dissuade you from having her stay or eventually dating but she has a long road ahead of her and it won't be easy."
Tori found herself answering without so much as a moment's hesitation. "Dr. Cortez, I care for her a lot and I will do what it takes to help her get well. If that means just being a friend for now, than so be it. I will walk that road with her, every single step of the way."
Dr. Cortez smiled. "I can tell you really mean that."
"I do" Tori said, with the utmost conviction.
"Good, than if you don't have any other questions, I'll bid you goodnight."
"Thank you Dr. Cortez." Tori said as she turned to leave.
Heading out of the hospital, Tori couldn't help about that road ahead of them. She would help Jade, not just due to her feelings of guilt, but because she truly cared for the Goth. It would be a long and possibly difficult journey. Tori knew that she may need to walk next to her, ahead of her or maybe even 20 steps behind her, but whatever Jade needed.
Tori would be there.
Jade is free of Beck, but now she had to pick up the shattered remains of her psyche and put them back together. Tori, be it as a girlfriend or just a friend will be there every single stop of the way.
This may sound like the end of the story, but more is coming. We're through the bad part, now we can slowly see the pair come back together. Keep reading.